FIFA is feeling the pressure to jettison its plans to have Visit Saudi as a sponsor for the 2023 World Cup after players and officials blasted the league for considering the partnership.
Among those who have criticized FIFA is United States Women's National Team star Alex Morgan, who referred to the situation as “bizarre” given Saudi Arabia's history of how it has treated women and human rights overall.
“I think it's bizarre that FIFA has looked to have a Visit Saudi sponsorship for the Women's World Cup, when I, myself, Alex Morgan, would not even be accepted and supported in that country,” Morgan said.
“I just don't understand it. I think that what Saudi Arabia can do is put an effort into their women's team that was only formed a couple of years ago, and doesn't even have a current ranking within the FIFA ranking system because of how few games they've played.”
Morgan's teammate Meghan Rapinoe echoed a similar sentiment during a media session at the SheBelieves Cup which took place recently.
“I think it’s totally inappropriate,” Rapinoe said. “If they want to do, like, a 20-year-long women’s empowerment project and in 2043 sponsor a World Cup, that would be something. But I think it kind of just further proves the corruption and the thought process of FIFA.”
Australia and New Zealand are co-hosts of the World Cup this year and have both pushed back on the idea of the sponsorship (which has not been finalized). New Zealand Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell told media last Friday he believes FIFA is feeling the pressure to nix the potential partnership.
“I found the response fairly ambiguous. It didn’t confirm nor deny the potential Visit Saudi sponsorship that has been reported in the media,” Pragnell told New Zealand media Friday. “It did allude to the importance of treating all member associations equally and the importance of engagement as opposed to isolation. Other than that, it stated that they’d be reaching out through their media and partnerships team for further conversations.
“We’re left in a little bit of uncertainty as to what’s going on here, to be frank, which is a bit disappointing. Anything further I say would be speculation because I don’t know, but clearly our letter, given the delay in the response, and the absence of confirmation or denial, has caused some form of rethink in FIFA about this issue.”
This year's World Cup will take place from July 20-Aug. 20 this summer.
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